A CHAPTER ON DISHWASHING.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIV, Issue 89, 15 April 1903, Page 2 (Supplement)

A CHAPTER ON DISHWASHING.

Do not become .wedded to the idea that dishes can be washed only in _ sink. If jour pantry or yt:ur cookroom be come distance from vc _r sink, and lave a broad sholf or table in it, take your dishpan to the pantry, wash and wipe your diahes there, and in this way save a few. of the unnecessary steps whten soon, amount to miles with many weary housekeepers. Never wash a bread board in an iron sink. The iron will leave a black mark on the board, which it i 3 difficult to remove. Wash the 'j'oartt on the table where you have used it; use cold water, and scrub occasionally with sand soap. In scraping dough from the board scrape with the grain of the Loard, and hold the knife in a slanting direction, to prevent roughening the surface of the board. Wash and wipe dry, and never let dough accumulate in the cracks. Have one board for bread and pastry, and keep it smooth. Use a smaller board for rolling crumbs and pounding and cleaning meat and fish. An egg beater should never be left to soak in water, as the oil will be washed out of the gears, and the beater be hard to turn; or, if used again before it be dry, the oil and water will spatter into the beaten mixture. Use it with clean hands, and then the handle will require no washing. Wipe the wires with a damp cloth immediately after using, dry thoroughly and keep it well oiled! All dishes should be scraped before washing. A small wooden knife is best for this purpose. Bread and cake bowls, or any dishes in which flour or eggs have been used, are more easily cleaned if cold water is put into them immediately after using, or washed at once.

Clear up as you work; it takes but a moment then, and saves much time and fatigue afterwards.

Never put pans and kettles half filled with water on the stove to soak. It only hardens whatever may have adhered to the kettle, and makes it much more difficult to clean. Keep them full of cold water, and soak them away from the heat.

Kitchen knives and forks should

never be placed in the dish water. Many err in thinking it is only the handles which should not be wet. The practice of putting , the blades into a pitcher of very hot water is wrong, as the sudden expansion of the steel by the lieat causes the handles to crack. Keep the knives ,out of the water, but wash thoroughly with the dish cloth, rub them with mineral soap or brick dust, and wipe them dry. Keep them bright, and sharpen often on a sandstone. The disadvantage and the vexation of dull tools would be avoided if every woman would learn to use a whetstone, and where and when to apply a little oil.

Milk will sour quickly if put iato dishes which have not been scalded. They should first be washed in clear, cold" water, then in hot soapy water, then rinsed in clean boiling , water, and wiped with a dry fresh towel. Bo not forget to scrape the seams and grooves of a double boiler.

Ironware should be wasted, outside as well as inside, in hot soapy water, rinsed in clean hot water, and wiped dry, not with a dishcloth, but with a dry towel. Dripping pans, Scotch bowls and other greasy dishes should be. scraped and wiped with soft paper, which will absorb the grease. The paper will be found useful in kindling the fire, and is a great saying of water, which is sometimes an object. A tablespoon of soda added to the water will facilitate the cleansing , .

Kitchen mineral soap or pumicestone may be used freely on old dishes. It will remove the stains from white knife handles, also the brown substance that adheres to earthen or tin baking dishes, arid the soot which collects on pans and kettles used over a wood or kerosene fire.

Tins should ibe washed in hot soapy water. Rub them frequently with mineral soap, and they may be kept as bright as when new. Saucepans and other tin or granite dishes browned iby use may be cleaned by letting them remain half an hour in boiling soda water, then rubbing with a wire dishcloth or stiff brush.

A new tin coffee pot, if never washed! on the inside with soap, may be kept much sweeter. Wash the outside, and rinse the inside thoroughly with clean water. Then put it on the stove to dry, and when dry rub the inside well with a clean dry cloth. All the brown sediment may be wiped off in that way, font a soapy dishcloth should nerer be put inside.

Keep a granite pan near , ; the. sink to use in washing vegetables, and use the hand basin for its legitimate purpose. Pare vegetables into the pan, and not into the sink. A strainer or an old quart tin pan with small holes in bottom is a great help in keeping the sink clean. Pour the coffee and te.a grounds, the dish water, and everything that is turned into the sink through the. strainer first, and then empty the contents of the strainer into the refuse pail.

Never use a ragged or linty dish cloth. The lint collects around the sink spout, and often causes a serious obstruction. A dish mop is bu* for cups and cleanest dishes, but a strong linen cloth should be used for everything which requires hard rubbing. Wash the sink thoroughly, flush the drain pipe often with hot suds or soda water, wipe dry and rub with, a greased cloth or with kerosene. Keep it greased if you wish to prevent its rusting. Cremation is the most satisfactory way of disposing of kitchen refuse. But if there must be other disposition made of it, keep two pails and use them alternately, cleansing each as soon as emptied. Wash dish towels in cold water vdth pilentyi of soap, and rinse thoroughly in cold water every time they are used. If left to dry without they will be sticky to handle and have a disagreeable odour. If t-he dishes be well washed, rinsed and drained the dish towels will require no ruibbing. It is easier to take care of three or four which- have never been left to become grimy than to wash one after it is stained and saturated with grease. Towels used in ibis way may be kept sweet and |

With a little care in observing !____ " hints, and always using, deal h? Py changing f t as 7oo D greasy, dis-h washing wo _ld be rob! the work is done, if the hand7i_ carefully washed with «J_h bo__ ' (not with strong *S wiped dry.no unpleasanteffecVupon the skan would be felt. A little vinegar is good to counteract the eff P( _ of the alkali in the soap. '** Tlie usual order is to wash gW a first, then silver, and next cW leaving the cooking utensils untuthe last; but some reverse the order be cause the cooking dishes are' ennw tied first and food hardens on them, and because it is better to do the hardest thing first, and because if delicate articles are washed in :■'_■'■ crowded sink, there is danger of breaking. Hot, soapy Avater may be used to wash china, silver and ordinary glass. Cut glass is liable to track i_ hot or cold water, so warm should be used. Einse all other dishes in clean hot water and wipe them with clean, dry towels. In putting glasses into hot water' they should be dipped in edgewise, so that the outside and inside are heated together. This will prevent their era-king. Wash every part outside and inside, of every dish/with the cloth. Use the mop if dishes are too small to get hands into. Scrub your boards and tables with mineral soap; scrub vrith the grain ; of the wood, then rinse off.thoroughly with the ends. If the table has leaves, lower them, and v\ipe around ! the binges each time. Let no dirt collect in the seams. Ammonia water will take the grease spots out; Keep a good supply of small holders, large coarse tOAvels to use about the oven, and fine crash towels for Aviping dishes, _. and glass towelling for glass. Keep a damp towel on the table when cooking, for wiping the hands. Avoid the habit of working Avith sticky or floury fingers, or using your, apron for a hand, towel or oven holder* or using the dish towels about the stove. , ; ■■..'■.

These hints and suggestions, are given by one who has always liked io wash dishes, and who thinks it hot beneath the dignity of any woman to learn to do such work, in the very best manner, and that no apology ; is needed for acknowledging a taste foe this much abused portion of domestic work. —"Melbourne Leader." ■